Evaluation of Tomato Lines against Septoria Leaf Spot under Field Conditions and Its Effect on Fruit Yield

Abstract

Field studies were conducted at Hazara Agriculture Research Station, Abbottabad to evaluate thirteen AVRDC lines along with one commercial check (Roma) for potential of fruit yield against septoria leaf spot during summer season 2014. The disease established itself by natural infection and disease severity was estimated with the help of 0-5 disease rating scale after 15 days interval from the onset of symptoms. The lines showed significant difference in % septoria leaf spot infection. The disease severity % increased up to 100% in line AVTO1314 whereas the lowest % severity was recorded in AVTO1173 which showed the highest yield (468.1 g) with average fruit weight 122.22 g while the significantly lowest mean yield/plant (35.05 g) was calculated in line AVTO1314 with fruit weight 47.92 g. It was concluded that the line AVTO1173 could be useful in genetic programs for incorporating resistant genes in local tomato germplasm against septoria leaf spot disease .